Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin (ISSN 0178 – 6288) . Number 135, March 2016, pp. 1-20. | Page 14

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are used, for the most part, for defense and are usually marked with light and
dark bands which alternate; these are not firmly attached. This porcupine has a
shorter tail which has rattle quills at the end. The rattle quills broaden at the
terminal end and the broad portion is hollow with thin walls. When these quills
are vibrated they produce a hiss-like rattle (Wikipedia).
The front feet of the crested porcupine have four developed and clawed digits
with a regressed thumb, the rear feet have five. The paws have naked and
padded soles and have a plantigrade gait. The ears are external and both the eyes
and ears are very small with long vibrissae on its head. The skull is specific in
many ways, first the infraorbital foramen is greatly enlarged so that portions of
the masseter extend through it and attach from the frontal side surface of the
snout. Second the angular process is inflected on the lower jaw, thirdly the nasal
cavity is enlarged. Prominent pockets create enlarged areas of attachment for
chewing muscles. Collar bones are very much reduced, and there are one incisor,
one premolar and three molars (Wikipedia).

The taxidermied Indian Crested Porcupine (Hystrix indica Kerr, 1792) at the Natural History

Museum in Al-Baq’a Suburb, West Jerusalem, Occupied Palestine. Photo: Prof. Dr. Sc.
Norman Ali Bassam Ali Taher Khalaf-von Jaffa. 27.07.2014.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/50022881@N00/15561354015/
Gazelle : The Palestinian Biological Bulletin – Number 135 – March 2016